Thammakaset poultry farm has filed yet another criminal defamation complaint against a human rights defender.
Thammakaset is now suing Thanaporn Saleephol, a former communications officer at Fortify Rights, for two tweets and three retweets which expressed support for two other human rights defenders. If found guilty she could face up to ten years in prison.
The poultry farm has been accused of serious human rights abuses on its property.
Migrant workers said that the business is guilty of labour malpractice with labourers being forced to sleep on the factory floor, and having their passport confiscated. More details about the abuse can be found in this report by Finnwatch.
The new case against Thanaporn means that Thammakaset has now filed at least 36 cases against 22 defendents in the last 5 years. The organization has not hesitated to use litigation against human rights workers despite the shaky legal standing of said cases.
The International Federation for Human Rights is calling on the Thai government to “ensure that defamation cases are not used by businesses as a tool to undermine legitimate rights and freedoms of …human rights defenders.”
Thai libel laws have been used by many parties over the years as a tool to silence criticism and opposition. No political party has expressed willingness to tackle the laws.